Bellator 244 weigh-in results: Ryan Bader clear for title defense

On Friday night, Bellator MMA will return to our screens with the stacked Bellator 244 card.

The event, which will air on the Paramount Network and DAZN, will be topped by a light heavyweight title fight between the champ Ryan Bader, who also holds the promotion’s heavyweight strap, and challenger Vadim Nemkov.

The card will also feature appearances from the likes of Julia Budd, Roy Nelson, and John Salter.

On Friday morning, the fighters competing on the Bellator 244 card stepped onto the scales to weigh in for battle. Only one fighter missed weight, as Jessy Miele missed her mark for her featherweight fight with the former champion Budd.

See the full weigh-in results for the event below:

Bellator 244: Bader vs. Nemkov Main Card:

Paramount Network and DAZN

10 p.m. ET/9 p.m. CT

• Light Heavyweight World Title Bout: Ryan Bader (204) vs. Vadim Nemkov (203.9)
• Featherweight Co-Main Event: Julia Budd (145.8) vs. Jessy Miele (147)*
• Heavyweight Feature Bout: Roy Nelson (264.9) vs. Valentin Moldavsky (234.6)
• Middleweight Feature Bout: John Salter (186) vs. Andrew Kapel (185.1)

Bellator 244 Preliminary Card:

Bellator MMA’s YouTube Channel

7:15 p.m. ET/6:15 p.m. CT

• 175-Pound Contract Weight Preliminary Bout: Yaroslav Amosov (174.4) vs. Mark Lemminger (174.6)
• Lightweight Preliminary Bout: Adam Piccolotti (155.3) vs. Sidney Outlaw (156)
• Bantamweight Preliminary Bout: Erik Perez (135.6) vs. Joshua Hill (136)
• Featherweight Preliminary Bout: Lucas Brennan (145.8) vs. Will Smith (143.7)
• Lightweight Preliminary Bout: Vladimir Tokov (155.3) vs. Chris Gonzalez (156)
• 150-Pound Contract Weight Preliminary Bout: Vladyslav Parubchenko (149.6) vs. John de Jesus (149.1)
• 147-Pound Contract Weight Preliminary Bout: Weber Almeida (147.5) vs. Salim Mukhidinov (147.8)

Ryan Bader will enter his Bellator 244 fight with Vadim Nemkov having spent his last few fights in the heavyweight division. If he wins, he believes he could be regarded as the best active light heavyweight on earth. 

“Arguably, right now you can say the winner of this fight is one of the best heavyweights right now that’s out there,” Bader told MMA Junkie ahead of his Bellator 244 fight with Nemkov. “DC retired and had a great career. He was always up there. Then, obviously, Jon Jones was one of the greatest of all time. I think that the whole division was in his shadow. Him moving up definitely opens it up.

“With my accomplishments, it’s not like I haven’t been there. I was a top-five guy consistently in there. I’ve grown as a fighter since I came over here – tremendously. Yeah, you can argue the winner of this fight is the best light heavyweight right now.”

Will you be watching Bellator 244?